Vacationing in Hell
by meg127
Summary: Serah and Lightning decide to take a trip to Palopulum where they meet up with Hope. What starts off as a good time quickly ends when Susan shows up, convinced Lightning is trying to steal her boyfriend and swears to make Lightning's life miserable.
1. Welcome to Paradise

Disclaimer- characters are not mine

Vacationing in Hell

She paced back and forth across the living room. Her sister was taking forever. Again! They were going to miss their train. _What is she doing in there anyway? _After a few more minutes that felt more like an hour she pounded on the bathroom door. "Hurry up!" she yelled to her sister.

"Go to hell!" was the response. A few minutes later the bathroom door opened and her sister came out. She was fixing her hair.

"Ah, Light!" Serah sighed when she saw what her sister was wearing. "Don't wear your uniform on _vacation."_

"Why not?"

"Because its silly. Go change."

Lightning put her hands on her hips. "I thought you wanted me to hurry up." she smirked.

Serah pointed in the direction of their bedroom. "Go." she laughed. Lightning pretended to whack her sister on the head as she went to change. Serah had already moved all of her stuff out and into Snow's house. The wedding was in a few days, so the two sisters thought it would be nice to go on a trip before that since they won't have much of a chance afterwards.

They shared a room for years. It looked so big with all the extra space. Lightning kept meaning to buy something big and obnoxious to take up space, but she never had time. Her last day off was her twenty first birthday. _And what a shithole experience that was… _She thought.

Originally Serah and Snow were going to get married as soon as possible, but it soon became obvious that that wasn't happening. Money was a huge issue. Serah wanted a romantic wedding; in a church, with flowers, tons of food, live band, and Lightning BETTER be in a dress. "None of this uniform shit." was her exact words. Since she was the only one employed the job of finding money fell on Lightning's shoulders. _Its not like I get paid _that _much. All I do is stand around and yell and kids that try to do anything stupid. _Lightning thought. Honestly, she was just happy she could get her old job back. After the whole l'cie…episode she went to her lieutenant asking to reenlist. He was more than happy to have her back and even gave her her old position back as well. He seemed to have forgotten about that letter of recommendation he promised. Oh well. _Its not like I defeated Orphan and freed Cocoon of Fal'cie rule or anything… _Serah's pounding on the door brought her back to earth.

_Do I even _have _any other clothes? _Lightning wondered. She opened her closet and dug through everything. At the bottom she found a pair of black shorts and a navy blue T-shirt. She pulled them out and smacked the dust off. "When'd I buy these?" She spotted the faded logo on the T-shirt and thought, _What's Shinra Electric Company? Oh well. _She changed and was surprised by how well the old clothes fit.

Serah banged on the door. "Hurry up!"

"Go to hell!" was the response. She grabbed her bag and was about to head out when she thought of something. She grabbed her shoulder plate and shoved into her bag. You never know.

"Well it's about time!" Serah laughed when her older sister finally came out. "What…What's Shinra?"

"I have no idea." Lightning replied flatly. "Let's go, we're going to miss our train. Serah had picked the location. Palopolum. Serah had always wanted to go and was jealous that Lightning got to visit there and not her. "I didn't really visit. I just ran through it." Lightning tried to tell her.

"Well you could have brought me!" was always the response.

"You were a crystal…"

"Well…you could have brought me anyway." Serah would reply. They had been through that many times and it always ended in them laughing. They both secretly found it odd that they never spoke about what happened to them last year. Not in a serious way, but what was there to say?

They boarded the train, put their bags in the overhead compartment, and sat down. "Sooo…." Serah began. "I can't wait to get there. Once we get to the hotel I'm gonna-What?" Serah noticed the look on her sister's face.

"Um."

"You didn't find a hotel?"

"I did my best."

"You didn't find a hotel."

"Lot's of people travel this time of year."

"You didn't find a hotel."

"Palopolum is a major tourist city."

"You didn't. Find. A hotel."

"No."

"Where are we gonna stay?"

"Don't worry about it. I asked a friend of mine if we could stay with him."

"You have friends?" Serah asked half joking, half actually surprised.

"Yes. I do." Lightning frowned. She only saw the surprised half.

"You need a sense of humor, Sis." Serah laughed and leaned back in her seat.

Before long they arrived at the Palopolum station. They collected their things and got off the train. They barely took a few steps before a silver haired boy ran up to them and hugged Lightning. He looked up at her happily. "Hey, Light! How've you been?"

"Fine." Lightning smiled. Serah giggled.

"Hi, Serah. Good to see you." Hope said to her. He then returned his attention to Lightning. "Hey I didn't know you liked that game!"

"What?" She asked confused.

"You're shirt. I like that game to."

"Uhh…"

"Final Fantasy VII?" Hope looked at her sadly. "You know…emo blonde kid, big sword…that."

Memories of her playing it as a kid popped into her head. "Oh yeah. I remember." _When'd I buy this shirt? _Lightning wondered.

"Well come on! Let's go." he pulled them away. They got to his house and he led them into the living room. "I want you to meet someone." he smiled. "Susan!" he called and a girl that looked like she was about fifteen years old came in. Hope made the introductions. "Susan this is Light and her sister Serah." he smiled.

"Light? That's a stupid name." she replied bluntly.

Lightning showed no sign of offense. "That's my nickname." she said calmly. "My name's Claire."

"That's a stupid nickname."

"It's short for Lightning." Hope put in.

"That's even stupider. It sounds like something a five year old would come up with. Oh well whatever. You're probably wondering who I am. Simple, I'm Hope's girlfriend."


	2. Blazefire Saber

**Chapter 2**

"How do you even use this anyway?" Hope asked as he waved Lightning's gun around trying to get it to turn into a sword. Lightning was sitting on the couch watching him, amused. "Hey, I think I got it!" he exclaimed as the weapon starting changing. As the blade came up the dull edge hit him right in the face. He fell over, dropping the weapon. Lightning shook her head and smiled. Hope stood up and shyly handed it back to her. "Um, here. I think I'll stick with a boomerang." he said. She took it and collapsed it back into a gun before putting it to the side.

Hope sat down on the couch next to her. "Sooo….they up yet?" he asked her. He was referring to Serah and Susan. The two sisters were planning on going shopping today. They invited Hope along and Susan invited herself. They wanted to leave to get breakfast an hour ago. They had stayed up late listening to Susan tell stories against their will. No one slept much except Hope, he was in the other bedroom. The three girls were crammed into one room. No one had planned on Susan sleeping over, not even Susan. There were only two beds, so Serah and Lightning had to share and they were small beds. Very. Small. Beds. Lightning got hit in the face by her sister at least three times. Finally around three in the morning Lightning snuck into the living room and lied down on the couch only to find Susan there.

"Hey there, Girl!" Hope's girlfriend said to the exhausted soldier when she saw her come in with a pillow. "Good, you're up, I wasn't finished my story yet! That was very rude of you to doze off before I was finished. Anyway. So Brad was all like, get your own ice cream. That made me mad. I mean, why couldn't he do it, you know?"

By that time Lightning was too tired to care and passed out on the couch despite the noise. Susan had laughed to herself and went back to bed. A few hours later Hope found Lightning on the couch staring at the ceiling. She was holding her gunblade and seemed to be contemplating something. It was then that he asked if he could play with it.

Serah's entrance was signaled by a huge yawn. She came in and collapsed onto the closet piece of furniture. "Light, do me a favor and take care of Su-of hi Hope." she stopped herself. Hope looked at her confused.

"What were you gonna say?" he asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." she replied.

Right as Hope was about to question Serah, Lightning but in. "Let's get breakfast." she got up and staggered over to her sister. "Come on." she said as she pulled her up. Serah swayed on her feet for a moment. After a moment her eyes focused and she spotted Lightning's Blazefire Saber resting on the ground. She pulled her older sister into the next room.

"Why'd you bring _that?"_ she hissed.

"Incase we ran into any insane girlfriends." her older sister replied without hesitation.

"No seriously."

Lightning shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea."

"Hey, Girls! Ready to go?" Susan called to them. They turned and saw her smiling face.

"Um…yeah. We're all ready." Hope answered as he came into the room. "Right?"

"Yeah." Lightning sighed.

They didn't get any rest at the restaurant either. Susan kept going on about stuff neither sister cared about. Hope didn't seem to mind. He just sat there smiling at each of the other people at the table in turn. Serah stared blankly at the wall behind Susan in a desperate attempt to appear like she was paying attention. What gave her away was the amount of syrup she was drowning her pancakes in. Her older sister reached over and took the syrup from her. It didn't even occur to Serah that she wasn't holding anything anymore. Lightning had to lower her sister's hand for her as well.

They weren't the only ones that were annoyed. Their waitress hated going over to their table. Susan laughed at Lightning to herself. She was sorry that her sister had to go down with her, but no one was taking Hope from her. _What makes her think she can come in here and mess everything up? _Susan thought. _And what the heck kind of name is _Lightning _anyway? Well, if she thinks she can take Hope from me she's sadly mistaken. _Serah noticed a thin evil smile form on Susan's face and whimpered. Lightning patted her arm reassuringly, but really she was nervous to.

_I've fought against monsters the size of a house! _Lightning thought. _And yet I'm afraid of some stupid kid. _She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. The streets were starting to get crowded. "Are you all ready?" Lightning asked the group. Hope and Serah started to get up, but Susan spoke up.

"Wait! I'm not done eating yet." she said.

"Your plate's empty." Serah exclaimed.

"I want more though. Waitress!" Susan waved the poor server over. "More pancakes. Thanks."

Serah sank into her seat and Hope rested his head on the table under his arms. Lightning just stared at the ground. The food arrived and Susan took her sweet time eating it. "We're going to be doing a lot of walking, so I don't want to eat so fast I feel sick. Right?" she nudged Hope and he agreed.

Three hours later Susan finished eating and waved the waitress over. "Check, please."

The waitress gave a sigh of relief. The people at the tables sitting around them started clapping. Susan pretended to have no idea what was going on, but on the inside she was laughing. They finally left and Susan still wasn't shutting up. Neither sister knew how anyone could talk that much. "I won't be surprised if she's making it up as she goes…" Serah muttered. Lightning smiled at the comment. She had been thinking the same thing.

"I remember this one time-" Susan continued before Serah cut her off.

"Sis! I just remembered something important we have to do. Right now!" she yanked her sister's arm and dragged her away.

"Wait! Where are you guys going?" Hope called after them.

"We'll be back later." Serah shouted over her sister's protests to being pulled away.

Once they were out of earshot Serah let go of her sister's arm. The soldier stared at her little sister hardly and said. "Why did you do that?"

"Admit it, Light, you wanted to get away just as much as I did!" Serah countered.

"Well yes but, Hope-"

"He can be mad at me. He's your friend."

"He's not really my 'friend.' More like the younger sibling I wish I had." Lightning smirked.

"WHAT!" Serah yelled and stared at her sister, dumbfounded.

Lightning laughed quietly and put her arm around Serah's shoulder. "Come on." They walked down the street and started browsing in all the shops. Serah looked at the merchandise more than Lightning. An annoying salesman came up to them.

"Oh my goodness ladies! I have to say I just _love _your hair. Pink is totally in this season."

"Excuse me?" Lightning asked confused.

"Oh yeah. _Everyone's _been doing it. Although I have to say you ladies pull it off the best." the salesman said happily. "It looks natural!"

"It is natural." Lightning sighed and tried to walk away.

"_Sure _it is. Sure it is." the sales person laughed. "Anyway, if you're interested we have _tons _of great accessories-"

"I'm not interested." Lightning cut him off.

"I am!" Serah came over. Lightning rubbed her temple as her sister was led over to the accessory wall. The soldier gave a huge sigh and followed them. _I need to shoot something, or arrest someone. Anything. _

A few moments later they heard a scream. The two sisters ran outside along with several other people to see what happened. Someone across the street pushed his way out of a shop, his arms full of expensive items. "Someone stop that thief!" the storeowner yelled.

Lightning's prayers had been answered. "Wait here." she said to Serah and sprinted after the thief. "Out of my way!" She yelled as she pushed her way through the crowd. She saw the thief up ahead. She was gaining on him. When she was only a few feet from him she lunged and tackled him. They hit the ground hard. Lightning stood up and with her foot on the thief's chest.

"Who the hell are you?" the thief coughed. "Get off of me!"

Lightning took her shoulder plate out of her bag and put it on. "Sergeant Farron of the Guardian Corps. I'm placing you under arrest." She yanked the thief to his feet and turned him around. He tried to escape, so she punched him in the back. "Start walking."

They reached the station and Lightning kicked the thief inside. A man came over to them. Lightning saw that he was a captain. She saluted and he nodded. "What's going on here?"

"Sir, I'm Sergeant Claire 'Lightning' Farron, Bodhum Security. This man was trying to escape after robbing a store."

"Was he now? Well thank you, Sergeant. It's nice to know good officers do exist. Even if they don't exist in Palopolum." he said loudly. Two men came over and took the thief away, nervously eyeing their captain. "These two," the captain started but then decided he embarrassed his men enough. Though they deserve it. "You said you're from Bodhum?" he said to Lightning.

"Yes, Sir."

"You're under Amodar then. Good man. He's an old friend of mine. Say…you're her aren't you? You have a Blazefire Saber yes?"

"Um…yes, Sir."

"Amodar told me about you! You should feel honored. Very few have that sword, er, gun. Whatever it is. I can't even get one. What are you doing in Palopolum? Vacation?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Well would you mind staying? I could use you. It's not like Bodhum has any problems. Hell, if something happens in that town everyone on Cocoon and even Pulse knows about it because it's so rare. Now Palopolum, crime here isn't new." he started walking away and motioned Lightning to follow. She hesitated for a moment before following the captain into his office. She noticed the two men the captain was about to insult were glaring at her.

Later that day Lightning met up with her sister. Serah was carrying at least seven bags. "This place is great! I never want to leave."

"I hope you're not serious."

"Why not?"

'"Susan."

The smiled vanished on Serah's face. "Aww…why does she have to ruin everything?"

"Its only two more days and we can leave early if you want."

"No way! I've only been to half the stores here. I'll need a whole 'nother day to see all of it."

"Just remember this is my money you're spending." Lightning planted her hands on her waist.

"So? I've spent you're money ever since-" Serah cut off. Ever since their parents died and Lightning had to take care of both of them herself.

Lightning knew what Serah was thinking and said something to lighten the mood. "You even spent the first dollar I ever made with my lemonade stand."

"That was the _only _dollar you ever made. Only four people bought cups, including you, so you really only made seventy five cents." She then frowned again. Their parents each bought cups…

"You still spent it." Lightning put in quickly and smiled. Serah looked up at her sister and returned the smile.

"I like it when you smile…" Serah said quietly.

Lightning looked at her sister sadly. "Come on. Let's go back to the house. "We need to talk." she said quietly. "We've put it off for to long."

Serah nodded her head. She knew what her sister was referring to.

They barely got in the door before they heard a dreaded voice. "Hey, Girls!" Susan skipped up to them. "Where have you two been? Hope and I were so lonely! Well come on, dinner's ready!" Susan then skipped into the kitchen. The two sisters sighed and Serah threw her bags into the bedroom. Susan saw Lightning put her shoulder plate back into her bag.

"Um…what's that?" she asked nervously.

Lightning saw Susan's face pale and smirked. She knew very well what it was. "I'm in the Guardian Corps officer." she said triumphantly. Susan almost fell over.

_Ohhhh shit!_ Hope's annoying girlfriend thought. Serah added to the girl's discomfort. "Not just any officer. She has one of those gunblade things. You know the kind given to only THE best of the best fighters. Yeah."

_Oh shit oh shit oh shit! _Susan thought. This time she really did fall over.


	3. This is Getting Stupid

**Chapter 3**

Serah whipped the tears from her eyes. After dinner the two sisters went into the bedroom and talked about everything that had happened to them since they were younger. Starting with their parents' death. Lightning was well aware of how wrong she was to be so cold over the years, but hearing it from her sister made it even worse. She had been waiting years to have this talk with her sister, but Lightning was never interested until now. Serah was unsure of exactly when she started crying, but Lightning was very quick to pull her into a much-needed hug. Serah felt safe in her sister's arms. She had been in need of that type of security for years, but whenever she would cry Lightning would just yell at her. Living with her sister from the time their parents died to almost a year ago had been hell. She had finally found comfort in Snow and couldn't be happier that she was getting it from her sister now.

Serah parted from her sister and whipped the tears from her face. She then looked up at her sister only to see that Lightning's face was completely dry. "Would it kill you to show some emotion?" Serah yelled as she got up and stormed out the door.

"Serah, wait!" Lightning called after her and ran out of the room. "Serah!" She caught up to her little sister. "What's wrong?" she asked sadly.

"You!" Serah yelled. "You don't care about anything!"

"What!" Lightning had to try not to yell. "What made you think that? Have you been talking to Susan?"

At that moment Susan came skipping in. "Did someone say my name?" she asked happily.

_Oh no. _Lightning thought. _Not now. _"What do you want, Susan?" she asked bluntly.

Susan saw how upset Serah looked. "Awww!" she patted Serah on the back. "Is your evil sister being mean to you? I know! Let's get some ice cream!" she started to pull on Serah's arm, but she wouldn't move.

"Um…I'd rather stay with my evil sister. Thank you." Serah sighed as Susan ignored her comment and pulled her away. Serah glared at Lightning as she was dragged into the other room.

Lightning had had enough of the little bitch. She went to find Hope. She found him sitting in the living room playing a video game. She sat down on the couch and looked at the screen for a few seconds before turning her attention to Hope. "What are you playing?" She really didn't know anything about games.

"Modern Warfare 2. Hold on a sec." His eyes were glued to the screen. "Ha! That guy thought he could get me. I showed him!" he seemed to have forgotten Lightning was there.

"Hope."

"Huh?" he wasn't really paying attention.

"Can you pause that?"

"No! It's online; I can't pause it. Let me finish this match."

Lightning sighed. "How is this modern warfare? All the weapons are outdated."

"That's because it takes place in America."

"Where's that?"

"Um…I think its on the planet Earth."

"Where's that?"

"How should I know?"

"You're playing it."

"They didn't go into detail."

Lightning was having fun annoying Hope. He didn't feel the same. "So what do you do in this game?" she asked.

"Shoot stuff."

"I can see that."

"Ah! Damn it; tactical nuke. I lost." Hope tossed the controller. He seemed to have just realized Lightning was there. He turned to her and smiled. "So, What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about Susan."

"What about her?"

"Hope she's…" Lightning really didn't know how to word this. "She's suffocating me."

"What?" Hope asked hurt.

"Don't act surprised. You know what she's doing."

"Well she's just happy you guys are here. I know she can much sometimes, but-"

"Hope. I came here with Serah to make up for all the years I wasn't around much. I don't want your girlfriend around to mess that up. She's already starting to drive us apart."

Hope jumped up and back away. "You're just jealous!"

"What?"

"Yeah. You're jealous because you're the oldest and the only one that's single!"

"Hope you have no idea what you're talking about." Lightning stood up.

"You're right! I'm just some dumb kid that doesn't know anything."

"I didn't say that."

"Just go away!"

"What?"

"Get out of my house." Hope stormed out of the room. Lightning stared at him as he left. She shook her head in disbelief and turned to go to her room to pack. She saw Susan smiling at her evilly. Lightning glared at her and slammed the door to her room shut. She furiously started throwing her and Serah's clothes into their bags without caring what went where.

The door opened and Susan came in. Lightning stood up to face her. "What? What could you possibly want now? You won all right. I'm leaving."

"But why?" Susan asked.

"Why?" Lightning almost yelled. She went up to Susan and loomed over her. "You wanted me gone the moment you met me. What is your problem? Why can't you just leave me and Serah alone?"

"Aw, Sweety. Why didn't you say something?"

"What?" Lightning couldn't believe what was happening.

"If you had a problem with me why didn't you just say something?"

"Are you insane? You had a problem with me."

"No I didn't! What gave you that idea?"

"Everything."

Susan laughed. "No, silly! I was just excited to meet Hopey's little friends is all."

Lightning scoffed. "I'm not dealing with this." she turned and continued packing.

Serah came in and rounded on her sister. "What's wrong with you? Hope just told me that you were yelling at him."

"I did not yell at him." Lightning said without looking at her sister. She finished packing and swung her bag over her shoulder. She tossed the other bag to her sister. "Come on, we're leaving."

"No." Serah planted her foot. "I don't want to."

"I don't care. We're going home." she grabbed her sister's arm, which she pulled away.

"I'm not a kid anymore!" she yelled. "You can't boss me around. I'm getting _married_ soon. What are you gong to do then? I don't even live with you anymore!"

"You're still my little sister."

"I'm not little!" Serah cried. "Hope's right, you are jealous." She pushed past her sister and left the room in tears. Susan followed her with a smile on her face.

"Susan." Lightning called after her and the girl stopped. Lightning picked up her weapon and strapped it to her pants. "I don't know what I did to offend you, but I'm sorry. Now please stop. Please." She said very forcefully.

"Stop what?" Susan asked innocently.

That did it. Lightning took a deep breath and punched Susan right in the jaw. She then stormed out of the house without looking back. "Find your own way home." She yelled to her sister right before she left.


	4. Karma's a B

**Chapter 4**

Lightning threw her bag down on the ground and collapsed onto her bed. She closed her eyes and slept for several hours. When she woke she found someone looking at her. Lightning yawned and sat up. She rubbed her eye and realized that the person looking at her was her sister. "Hi Sis." Serah sighed.

"Wha you doing here?" Lightning couldn't think straight.

"I'm sorry." Serah looked at her older sister pleadingly.

"It's alright." Lightning yawned again and got out of bed.

"No. I'm _really _sorry."

"What are you-" Lightning started, but stopped when she saw Susan smiling at her. "Um…Serah. Can I speak to you…alone." without waiting for a response she grabbed her sister's arm and dragged her into another room. Lightning was glaring at her. "_What _is she doing here?"

"She followed me! I kept trying to get her to go away, but she kept on me."

"Son of a bitch." Lightning sighed. "What about Hope?"

"Hi there!" Hope said as he came in. "I want to say I'm sorry to. I know Susan's annoying, but well….she's my first girlfriend and-"

"Are you guys talking about me?" Susan skipped in. "Well come on! Let's have some fun."

"Actually." Hope started. "Let's go home, Susan. We weren't invited here anyw-"

Susan was glaring at him. "Hope. I have always wanted to go to Bodhum. I've told you that."

"No you didn't." he protested.

"Yes. I. Did." Susan countered sternly. She smiled to herself at the sight of all the fear in the others' eyes. Even Lightning looked scared. _Ha, serves you right, bitch. _She thought why grinning evilly at the soldier. Lightning shuddered at the sight of Susan…._grinning._ It was truly a terrifying sight. "Well then!" Susan started. "Why don't we all go out to dinner tomorrow? Oh! Serah, bring your boyfriend, you to, Light. It'll be a triple date!"

"Um…only problem is that Lightning doesn't have a-" Lightning covered her sister's mouth before she could finish.

"Fine." the soldier replied.

After Hope and Susan left the two sisters plopped onto the sofa. "What are we going to do?" Serah moaned.

"Run away."

"Yeah really. To where?"

"Pulse is very big. She won't find us there."

"I have a feeling she'll still manage to find us."

"Me to."

They looked at one another for a few seconds. Smiles spread across both their faces and Serah started laughing. Lightning sighed and patted her on the shoulder. "We'll figure this out. Who knows? Maybe Snow will be annoying enough for even Susan."

"Hey!" Serah laughed. "What are you going to do? You don't have a boyfriend."

"I can find one."

"In a day? What are you planning?"

"Sir, I need a date." Lightning said as she burst into her lieutenant's office.

Amador looked up at her confused. He thought maybe it was a joke, but she _never _jokes. "Well, Farron, I'm flattered, but unfortunately I'm also married."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Not _you. _Anyone! Make one of your men go out with me. Please." she added quickly.

"Um…I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because its cruel." he was trying not to laugh.

"Fine!" Lightning almost yelled. "I'll make one of _my _men go out with me."

"You can't do that that."

"You can't stop me." Lightning smiled.

"I know…and that's what scares me. Well all right. It shouldn't be too hard for you to find a date," he sighed. Satisfied, Lightning turned to leave "since every man in GC wants to do you anyway." he put in. Lightning picked up whatever she could get her hands on first and threw it at Amador. He ducked just in time, expecting it. "And that is why you will never be promoted, Sergeant!" he laughed.

"Go to Hell!" Lightning yelled and she closed the door behind her.

"That…and because then I'll have to try to replace you." he put in after she already left.

Five men stood timidly in a line waiting for their commanding officer to explain what they were doing. She was in a strange mood. She was actually smiling and that scared them. Even worse, it was an evil smile. "Alright men." Lightning started and they all stood a bit straighter. "Who here is single?" she asked calmly.

The men exchanged confused glances. One of the men on the end raised his hand slowly. Lightning smirked and said to him, "Dinner. Tomorrow night. Eight o'clock. You're going." and walked away. The volunteer stood there with his mouth open and the others stared at him confused.

The next night the man arrived at Lightning's house ten minutes before eight. He wasn't sure if he should have bought flowers or something since he had no idea if this was a real date or not. Instead he just bought a single rose and prayed she didn't kill him. After contemplating suicide for a moment he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After a few seconds Lightning answered. He was glad he had decided to just where his uniform because she had done the same. What he didn't realize is that she wore it for the sole purpose of intimidating Susan.

"Oh good you came. I was worried I would have to kill you." Lightning said. "Alright let's go." she closed the door behind her and took off without waiting for her date.

"Uh!" he ran to catch up to her. "F-For you." he handed the flower to her.

"This isn't a real date, you know." Lightning said, but took the flower anyway. It matched her hair color. _He probably did that on purpose. That was sweet. _She thought.

"Oh! Uh…forgive me, Ma'am, I didn't-"

"For the duration of the night I want you to call me Lightning."

"Are you sure, Ma'am? That just seems…disrespectful."

"You know what's even more disrespectful? Not doing what I tell you."

"Sorry Ma- uh…Lightning."

They arrived at the restaurant and the others were already there. As the two soldiers approached the group they all started to make introductions to Lightning's "date." It had then occurred to Lightning she had no idea what her date's name was. He introduced himself as Lars.

They went inside and were seated immediately. Susan wasn't intimidated by the two soldiers, but it was obvious the other diners were. Especially by the female soldier that looked like she would strangle the first person to say something to her. Lars looked scared himself. A waitress came over to take their drink orders and all hell broke loose.

"I'll have a beer, thanks." Susan said happily.

The waitress stared at her. "Uh, miss. You aren't old enough for that."

The smile vanished from Susan's face. "What." she said. Hope and Serah groaned. Snow and Lars just looked confused.

"I'm sorry" the waitress repeated.

"I said I want a beer." Susan banged her fist on table.

"Well I can't give it to you. Now if someone else of the legal age buys one and you take a sip I can't stop you, but I can't give it to you."

Everyone turned to Lightning, the only one of the legal drinking age. Lightning sighed. She was willing to do anything she had to too shut Susan up, but it was against GC rule to drink while in uniform. Not even the act of buying a drink was aloud. The waitress quickly realized the dilemma and asked what everyone else wanted quickly. When it came time for Lightning to order her drink she sighed heavily. She could really go for a shot of anything right now. Something. "I'll just have a water, thanks." Susan stared at her angrily.

The waitress smiled at Lightning sadly and then ran away before she was caught in the storm. "Hey Light, uh…didn't you hear what the waitress said? If you buy the drink I can have some."

"I heard, but I'm in uniform."

"So?"

"So I can't."

Susan smiled inside. "Oh is that so?"

The entire dinner was horrible. Susan went on and on the whole time about things no one cared about. Everyone did their best to tune her out. The food at least was very good. After everyone was finished Lightning asked for the check before Susan could request anymore. She paid quickly and they were all out the door. They stood outside and talked amongst themselves. Lightning came out last; she wanted to apologize to the waitress. Once she was outside Susan rounded on her.

"Well thanks a lot bitch! All I wanted was a sip and you couldn't even do that."

"You're a bitch." Lightning smiled. She was trying to provoke her.

Susan couldn't believe what had just come out of the soldier's mouth. "What did you call me?"

"Bitch."

Susan swung and slapped Lightning across the face. The others stared in shock. Lightning just looked at Susan and smiled. Bingo. "You just assaulted a GC officer. I'm placing you under arrest."

Susan's mouth dropped to the ground. "You can't do that."

"Watch me." Lightning sneered and dragged her away, Lars following close behind. The rest of the group, Hope included, started crying tears of joy.

Susan tried to fight, but while she could unnerve anyone with ease, physically she was no match for the well-trained soldier. Lightning threw her into the station. Amador came out of his office. "Well! You must be Susan. Sergeant Farron told me all about you."

"She assaulted me, Sir. I bled and everything." Lightning said sarcastically.

"Oh _really?" _her lieutenant smirked. "Well we're looking at a five to ten sentence for you."

"What!" Susan yelled. "I didn't make her bleed! All I did was slap her."

"A confession!" Amador yelled. "Take her away, Lars."

Lars nodded and dragged Susan away. Amador laughed and turned his attention to Lightning.

"Thank you, Sir." she sighed.

"Of course, Farron. Anything for you."

"Anything? Well in that case-" Lightning laughed.

"I mailed it in yesterday. You should get a reply in a few weeks."

Lightning was taken aback. "What? Lieutenant I-"

"You're past due for a promotion. I told you that how many times?"

Lightning thanked him again before going home.

Sitting in a cell by herself Susan started talking to the inmates in the other cells. They were all going insane. The warden came over several times to try to get her to shut up, but nothing worked. She even talked in her sleep. "So I was all like, 'Nooooo way' right? Well then he was all like, 'Yeeeah way.' I mean, he's so funny right? I know right? Isn't he funny! Right? Right? Right! He's funny. So so funny…."


End file.
